Revenge: Gillian Stokes, a 44-year-old tuck shop worker, pulled doughnuts on the grounds of the private school that used to employ her and attacked the caretaker with a fire extinguisher

A tuck shop worker who attacked a school caretaker with a fire extinguisher then pulled 'doughnut' stunts in her car while fleeing from police has been spared jail.

Gillian Stokes, 44, carried out her bizarre revenge on Shrewsbury School in Shropshire last Friday after winning an unfair dismissal case against her former employers.

Stokes breached a restraining order to come back to the £30,000-a-year school, a court heard, where she caused £500 damage by hitting a wall, then drove her car over a historic cricket pitch on which Shrewsbury alumnus Charles Darwin once played.

She admitted assault, criminal damage and breaching a restraining order at Telford Magistrates' Court yesterday, and was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Magistrates heard that Stokes arrived at the school in a fury, shouting obscenities at members of staff.

When she spotted caretaker Jonathan Taylor in a corridor, the court heard, she pushed him with both hands before grabbing a fire extinguisher from the wall and swinging it.

On the first occasion she missed Mr Taylor but hit a wall causing £500 worth of damage, but on the second occasion she hit the top of his leg.

She then set the fire extinguisher off in his face from just two feet away and fired the foam at his eyes before fleeing the building.

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When outside she climbed into her Nissan Duke and fled across the school grounds to avoid police who had been called by concerned staff.

Officers pursued her across the historic cricket pitch after she abandoned the car. When one caught her, she was tackled to the ground and arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and assault.

Bid for freedom: After attacking the caretaker with a fire extinguisher, Stokes drove her car partway across Shrewsbury School's cricket pitch (pictured) before being apprehended by police

Prestigious: Stokes was sacked from the £30,000-a-year school, and later won an unfair dismissal trial against them

Prosecutor
Abigail Hall said: 'On Friday June 20 Mr Taylor was at work at the
school in his office when he heard a staff member shouting down the
corridor.

'He heard staff saying that Gillian Stokes had gone upstairs. He states "I ran upstairs to see what was going on.

'"Gillian was in the corridor, she was very agitated shouting and swearing telling me to f**k off".

'He states that she began pushing him with both hands holding him on the shoulders.

'He
then managed to get behind the defendant. He states the defendant
pushed him out of the way. The defendant picked up a fire extinguisher
and swung it at him.

'The defendant missed and hit the wall, causing £500 of damage.

'The
defendant then swung the fire extinguisher again. This time it hit him
on the top of his left leg. She then discharged it straight in to his
face from two feet away.

'The
force knocked his glasses off and it went in his left eye causing a
lot of pain. He states he did seek medical attention but no serious
damage has been caused to his eye.'

The
court heard Stokes also swore at the police officer who arrested her
after a short chase across the cricket field - saying 'f**k off you
c**t' and 'f**k off c**ksucker' at him.

As well as the six-month sentence for breaching her restraining order, Stokes was handed a two-month suspended sentence for assault and a one-month sentence for criminal damage. All three will run concurrently.

'Problems': Defence lawyers for Stokes said the bizarre revenge was prompted by her sacking

She was also ordered to pay £250 compensation to Mr Taylor, £250 to Shrewsbury School, £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Chairman of the bench Sally Themans said: 'Regardless of how aggrieved you feel about your treatment and how wronged you may feel you cannot and must not go on to a school property from which you have a restraining order and create havoc the way you did last Friday.

'It’s very serious. It was a deliberate breach of a court order. To let a fire extinguisher off in somebody’s face could have caused a lot of damage.

'You are not going to prison but it is hanging over you, so any breach and there would be no choice but to implement it.

'That restraining order is there for a reason, just don’t go anywhere near that school otherwise you will be back here and will be in prison.'

Stokes was handed a restraining order banning her from going to the school in November last year.

Paul Nicholas, defending, said all her offending related to her dismissal from Shrewsbury School last year.

Once a schoolboy: The cricket pitch which Stokes drove over was once used by Charles Darwin, an alumnus of the school

He added: 'This lady would not have been before the courts if it hadn’t been for what occurred at her old employer.

'That’s the only problem in this lady’s life. She was at that school for 17 years. It has been a torrid, torrid time for her.'

Last month an employment tribunal heard Miss Stokes claim she was unfairly dismissed because of trade union activity. The tribunal also heard that she claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a female colleague.

Miss Stokes won her case, but was not awarded the £24,000 compensations which she sought.

Speaking after the case, school spokesman Kathy Campbell said Stokes was spotted performing ‘doughnuts’ in her car shortly before she attacked Mr Taylor.

She said: 'She did briefly and rather unexpectedly enter the school fields on Friday.

'Pupils were practising on the cricket pitch at the time. She turned up in defiance of an injunction banning her from the premises.

'She did several high speed laps of the cricket pitch in her car and performed several doughnuts.

'Because her car has personalised number plates we knew immediately who it was and alerted police. Teachers led the pupils to safety. Everyone was shocked but it was dealt with in a calm and swift manner.

'We are taking extra security measures to ensure she cannot come back to the school and locking the gates. You don’t want someone who is in an irrational state driving their car onto the school grounds when there are children around.

'Our groundsman is not happy. It is a historic and beautiful cricket pitch... Charles Darwin probably played on it.'